By Arthur H. Bleich– In Back To Basics: Resolution Simplified Part 1 camera and print resolution were explained. In this part, we’ll cover printer resolution, how to select the best printer settings for quality output and how to add more pixels to an image to enlarge it (within reason) without it looking like patchwork of pixels. To make things as easy to understand as possible,...

By Arthur H. Bleich– Resolution goes hand-in-hand with almost every aspect of digital photography– from image capture to the final print. If you want your photographs to be the best they can possibly be, it’s necessary to have a basic understanding of it. At first, it may seem confusing because many who try to explain it often use the wrong terminology or throw lots of numbers...

By Arthur H. Bleich– In Back To Basics: Resolution Simplified Part 1 camera and print resolution were explained. In this part, we’ll cover printer resolution, how to select the best printer settings for quality output and how to add more pixels to an image to enlarge it (within reason) without it looking like patchwork of pixels. To make things as easy to understand as possible, I’m not diving too deep because I...

By Arthur H. Bleich– Resolution goes hand-in-hand with almost every aspect of digital photography– from image capture to the final print. If you want your photographs to be the best they can possibly be, it’s necessary to have a basic understanding of it. At first, it may seem confusing because many who try to explain it often use the wrong terminology or throw lots of numbers around which only makes things worse. This is my...

By Bryan Peterson– You can do one of the best exercises I know near your home whether you live in the country or the city, in a house or an apartment. Select any subject, for example, the houses and trees that line your street or the nearby city skyline. If you live in the country, in the mountains, or at the beach, choose a large and expansive composition. Over the course of the next twelve months, document the changing seasons and...

By Arthur H. Bleich– In the early days of amateur photography, enthusiasts were always being warned to “keep the sun at your back” because films were slow and needed lots of light to record a decent image. But before photography became the beloved hobby of the masses, Victorian studio photographers had discovered that the best way to light their subjects was to avoid the sun altogether. They set up indoor studios with...

By Arthur H. Bleich– There are few things more chilling than to see this message pop up on your computer screen during startup: “This disk is not readable by this computer.” Is your data still on the hard disk? Is it a software problem? A hardware problem? A connection problem? What happened? If it’s your internal drive that’s gone south, you won’t even be able to get online for help. You get that numb feeling of fear. Well, hang in...

By Arthur H. Bleich– Chances are you already know about different post production work flow techniques that can be used in Photoshop and/or Lightroom after you’ve shot your pictures. But it’s equally important to establish a workflow you can follow before you even make the shot. Here are nine things you should think about before you lift the camera to your eye. I’ve grouped them so when you begin to follow this recipe you only...

By Drew Hendrix –Today’s selection of inkjet papers provides amazing creative opportunities for photo enthusiasts by offering quality, control and cost savings previously unknown to photographers who worked with conventional photo papers. There are many more options to let you match the paper’s surface to suit your photographic style. Weight, texture, shade and more can finely tune the look and feel of your prints. Never in the...

By Arthur H. Bleich– Throughout history, great works of art have been showcased in frames and your best images deserve no less. It’s amazing how they’ll stand out and gain stature; a framed photograph seems to announce: “Look at me, I’m worthy of viewing!” But how do you choose the right frame? For years I’ve put off framing my best images for two reasons. First, I wasn’t up to learning how to frame from scratch; for example, making...

by Drew Hendrix – Today’s digital world is fraught with danger when it comes to protecting precious photos. They easily can be ruined even when we think they’re safe and securely stored on magnetic or optical drives, CDs and DVDs or somewhere up in the Cloud. Digital disaster regularly befalls governmental agencies, educational institutions and companies big and small despite their best efforts to prevent it. It can also happen to you...

by Arthur H. Bleich– When the weather outside turns frightful why not stay inside, where it’s nice and warm, and shoot some still lifes. What’s a still life? It’s simply a creative arrangement of objects which you design. You’ve probably seen classical still life paintings such as flower arrangements or bowls of fruit with fish or fowl in the scene. While these are more traditional still life subjects, yours should be...

By Arthur H. Bleich– I rarely just wander around looking for good pictures. Instead, I almost always have a clearly defined goal in mind when I sling my Pentax over the shoulder and set out for a shooting session. For example, doing a series of images at the town’s train station in the early morning light, catching some action at a kid’s soccer game or shooting a summer band concert down by the river–­ thematic subjects like that....

By Arthur H. Bleich– Most amateur photographers lust for longer focal length lenses that bring distant subjects nearer. But most professionals will tell you that if they had to choose between a telephoto or a short focal length lens, they’d take the wide-angle every time. First, it’s a very versatile lens, especially for shooting close-up action. It has great inherent depth of field; you can disengage your camera’s autofocus, set the...

By Shelly Katz– Recently, a puzzling question crossed my desk – yes, it was a Monday. Question: Do you have a chart of what is the most standard actual print sizes to fit on a certain paper size. EX: 17×22 paper size – renders a 18×12 print Thanks! My Reply: At first all I could say is that any size image up to the size of the paper would surely fit, and although I wasn’t quite sure what the writer was...

by Charlie MacPherson– If you’re just starting out in photography – or perhaps just getting more serious about improving your images – you’ll come across a lot of confusing term. One of them is White Balance. Get it right and your images look just as you would expect. Get it wrong and you’ll wonder why the entire image has a bizarre color shift! So let’s dig in. Virtually all cameras from the most basic “point & shoot” to the...

By Arthur H. Bleich– For those of you who are not professionals and take pictures for the love of it, technology is your most formidable opponent. Digital cameras have far too many features for you to become comfortable with, especially if you don’t (and I know you don’t) shoot a couple of hundred pictures a day. Film cameras, on the other hand, had relatively few features which made it very easy to take pictures instead of wasting...

By Charles MacPherson– Exposure Modes Part 2 Last month, we talked about the different exposure modes available on your camera, and after explaining the different modes, I said that I use only one mode over 90% of the time. And I challenged you to guess which it was. Sue Abrahamsen was the only one to get the right answer – ATTAGIRL, Sue! Sue correctly answered that I use Aperture priority almost all the time. She followed up...

By Charles MacPherson– Exposure Modes Part 1 Beginner’s Corner – Exposure Modes I’ve been asked to explain something about the different exposure modes. I’ll go more into depth on these next month. Here are the modes that most cameras have: Green Box or Full Auto. The camera controls all exposure and autofocus (AF) settings. You have zero control, but will usually get an acceptable image. P or Program. ...

By Charles MacPherson– Managing Your Shutter Speeds Managing your camera’s shutter speed is absolutely critical to making sharp images – or to create motion blur when you want to. This Beginner’s Corner article will give you a solid handle on how to eliminate or make motion blur. Think of the camera’s shutter as a window shade. It either prevents light from reaching the digital sensor (or film), or allows it. It’s right behind the...